Sketch for A Mermaid 1892

Curator: John William Waterhouse, the painter, created this study, "Sketch for A Mermaid," in 1892. It’s currently held in a private collection. Editor: It's really dreamy, isn’t it? Almost as if Monet tried his hand at painting a pre-Raphaelite vision. The palette gives everything this muted, ethereal quality. She is both there and not there, somehow. Curator: Indeed. The pose—mermaid sitting and drawing her hair—is part of a larger current that saw mythic female figures taking center stage in late-nineteenth-century art. There’s a Victorian fascination at play with female otherness. Editor: Absolutely. She is definitely playing a type here, a trope. But also, doesn't she seem rather pensive? Look at her expression – lost in thought, slightly melancholy. It almost undercuts the mythic trope, giving her an inner life. I bet she’s tired of being a mermaid. Curator: That melancholy may be heightened because this is a sketch—there is the roughness, the incomplete elements. It hints at vulnerability before she assumes her full public mythical presence. Editor: Right! It's a bit like catching an actress backstage, before the lights go up, still figuring out who she is about to become. The colors play into it as well - I notice the juxtaposition of that almost fiery red hair against the cool, blues of the sea, and those earthy greens and browns of the rocks. Curator: Interesting. Color combinations often carry cultural weight; Waterhouse certainly understood how such dramatic contrast affects viewers’ interpretations. It's worth remembering that paintings like this contributed to the Victorian understanding of ideal beauty, shaping public taste. Editor: Which, I guess, is ironic when you look at a preliminary sketch like this. Because aren’t we really peeking behind the curtain of constructed ideals, too? Maybe all mermaids aren't so thrilled with how they’ve been styled. Anyway, this image just pulls you in. Curator: Indeed, it is intriguing to see where we get the stories and tropes. Editor: Absolutely, plus I am still in love with her hair!